ABC 4 (Late Years of Nabopolassar)

The Chronicle Concerning the Late Years of Nabopolassar (ABC 4) is one of the historiographical texts from ancient Babylonia. It deals with the wars of the Babylonian king Nabopolassar and his crown prince Nebuchadnezzar against nations that were, just like the Babylonians, interested in seizing parts of the declining Assyrian Empire.

ABC 4: Late Years of Nabopolassar Chronicle

This chronicle is the last part of one large text that began with the Early Years of Nabopolassar Chronicle (ABC 2) and continued with the Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3). This text is inscribed on a small tablet, BM 22047 (96-4-9, 152), which, like Chronicle 2, 6, 9, and 15, has the shape of a Neo-Babylonian business document. It measures 45 mm long and 54 mm wide. The text is in splendid condition, so that only a few words are missing.

For a very brief introduction to the literary genre of chronicles, go here. The translation on this webpage was adapted from A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975) and Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles (Atlanta, 2004).